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THE 



GEOGlllPHY AND RESOURCES 



ARIZONA & SONORA : 



gngbljms Mm i\it^\\muu§tan\M ^mi$imBmd^ 



By Hon. SYLVESTER MOWRY, 

OF ARIZONA. 



^^ero-^ork, Stbxmx^ 3, 18i59. 



PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY 



WASHINGTON : 

HENRY POLKINHORN, PRINTER. 

1859. 






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||lr. ^rrsibeni nnh §tntUmnx of Ihc 

^cognipbirul :inb SftiitislicHl ^ocicfjT; 
Ladies and Gentlemen : 

The word Arizona ia undoubtedly derived from the AzteC. 
In the original it is Arizuma, and the change is a corruption 
into the present word, which is accepted as Spanish. We have 
no decided information as to its meaning, but the impression 
among those who have been curious enough to investigate, is 
that it signifies "silver-bearing." This impression gains 
strength from the fact that the Arizona mountains are very 
rich in silver, and that a tradition of a silver mine, called La 
Arizona, of incredible richness, still exists among the Mexican 
people near the frontier of our newly-acquired Territory. The 
proposed Territory of Arizona is bounded on the north by the 
parallel of latitude 33° 40' ; on the east by Texas ; on the 
south by Texas and the Mexican States of Chihuahua and 
Sonera ; and on the west by the Colorado river, which separates 
it from California. This great region is about seven hundred 
miles long, with an average width of about one hundred and 
forty miles, and contains nearly 100,000 square miles. It is 
twice as large as New York ; embraces within its borders three 
of the largest rivers on the continent west of the Mississippi, 
viz : the Rio Grande, the Gila, and the Colorado of the West. 
The Colorado is the only navigable stream, and by its waters 
and those of the Gulf of California, Arizona is placed in easy 
communication with San Francisco and the Pacific coast. The 
natural outlet for the productions of Arizona must be through 
a port on the Gulf of California, and the acquisition of Arizona 
necessitates the possession of Sonera. That portion of Arizona 
now occupied, and to which public attention is now attracted 
in so remarkable a degree, has been better known heretofore 



as the Gadsden Purchase. It was acquired by purchase from 
Mexico, during the mission of General Gadsden, at a cost of 
ten millions of dollars. In the original treaty, as negotiated 
by General Gadsden, a more southern boundary than the one 
adopted by the Senate of the United States in confirming the 
treaty, was conceded by Santa Anna. The line at present is 
irregular in its course, and cuts oft" from our Territory the head 
of the Santa Cruz river and valley, the Sonoita valley, the 
San Bernardino valley, the whole course of the Colorado river 
from a point twenty miles below the mouth of the Gila river, 
and, worse than all, the control of the head of the Gulf of 
California, and the rich and extensive valley of Lake Guzman, 
besides a large and extremely valuable silver region, well known 
both to Mexicans and Americans — the Planchas de la Plata. 
General Gadsden's line included nearly all the territory south 
of the Gila river to the thirty-first parallel of latitude — all the 
advantages above mentioned — and gave us the mouth of the 
Colorado river. 

The Gadsden purchase is attached by act of Congress to the 
Territory of New Mexico. At the time of its acquisition 
there was scarcely any population except a few scattering 
Mexicans in the Messilla valley, and at the old town of Tuc- 
son, in the centre of the Territory. The Apache Indian, su- 
perior in strength to the Mexican, had gradually extirpated 
every trace of civilization, and roamed uninterrupted and un- 
molested, sole possessor of what was once a thriving and popu- 
lous Spanish province. 

In the possession of the writer of these notes is a map drawn 
in 1757, over one hundred years ago, presented by the Society 
of Jesuits to the King of Spain. The original of this map is 
now in the archives of the Mexican Government. It was 
copied, with the notes relating to the Territory, and to Sonora, 
Chihuahua, and Sinaloa, by Captain C. P. Stone, late of the 
United States Army. The map bears the inscription, " Carte 
levee par la Societe des Jesuites, dediee au Roi d' Espagne en 
1757." 



The copy of the map and the accompanying notes are certi- 
fied as accurate by the officer of the Mexican Government in 
charge of the archives. 

My information, therefore, upon the early history of this 
comparatively unknown domain, is accurate and reliable. As 
early as 1687, a Jesuit missionary from the province of So-' 
nora, which, in its southern portion, bore already the impress 
of Spanish civilization, descended the valley of Snnta Cruz 
river to the Gila. Passing down the Gila to its mouth, after 
exploring the country, he retraced his steps, penetrated the 
country north of the Gila river for some distance, and ascended 
the Salinas or Salt river, and other northern branches of the 
Gila. The explorations of this energetic priest did not stop 
here. Proceeding east, he explored the valley of the San 
Pedro and its branches, thence along the Gila to the Mimbres, 
and probably to the Rio-Grande and the Mesilla valley. Filled 
with the enthusiasm of his sect, he procured authority from the 
head of the order in Mexico, and established missions and set- 
tlements at every available point. 

The reports of the immense mineral wealth of the new coun- 
try, made by the Jesuits, induced a rapid settlement. There 
are laid down on the map before me more than forty towns and 
villages. Many of these were of considerable size. There 
were a few north of the Gila, and several on the lower Gila, 
near the Colorado. The Santa Cruz and its tributary valleys 
teemed with an agricultural and mining population. Thousands 
of enterprising Spaniards cultivated the rich valley of the San 
Pedro, and scattered settlements flourished at every suitable 
stream and spring at the foot of the mountains towards the Rio 
Grande. The notes before me say : 

"All these settlements and missions were founded in fertile valleys, and by 
streams and springs, which produced luxuriant crops of wheat, corn and 
beans, and in many parts grapes and other foreign fruits were cultivated." 

In the western part of the Territory were the missions of 
St. Pierre, St. Paul, St. Matthias, St. Simond, St. Francisco, 
Merci, the ranches of Eau Chcri, Eau de la Lune, and others ; 



on the Santa Cruz the missions of San Xavier del Bac, Santi- 
ago, San Cayetano, and San Philipe, the towns of Tucson, 
Tuhac, Regis, San Agusta, and many others. San Xavier del 
Bac is still in existence. It is a mission church of great size 
and beauty, magnificently ornamented within ; forty thouand 
dollars in solid silver served to adorn the altar. Upon the 
San Pedro river where the missions of St. Mark, San Salva- 
dore, San Pantaleon, Santa Cruz, and the towns of Quiduria, 
Rosario, Eugenia, Victoria, and San Fernando — the latter at 
the mouth — with many more. To the east some small settle- 
ments were found on the Valie del Sauz, on the Mimbres, at 
the copper mines north of the Mimbres, and to the south the 
immense grazing and stock-raising establishment of San Ber- 
nardino, where since have been raised hundreds of thousands 
of cattle and horses. The Indians in the vicinity of the mis- 
sions were reduced first to obedience by the Jesuits, and then 
to slavery by the Spaniards. 

The notes referred to above contain the names and localities 
of more than a hundred silver and gold mines which were 
worked with great success by the Spaniards. The survey of 
the Jesuit priest about 1687 was repeated in 1710, with renewed 
discoveries, and consequent accession of population. From 
this time up to 1757 the conquest and settlement of the coun- 
try was prosecuted with vigor, both by the Jesuits' Society and 
Spanish Government. 

The missions and settlements were repeatedly destroyed by 
the Apaches, and the priests and settlers massacred or driven 
off". As often were they re-established. The Indians at length, 
ihoroughly aroused by the cruelties of the Spaniards, by whom 
they were deprived of their liberty, forced to labor in the sil- 
ver mines with inadequate food, and barbarously treated, 
finally rose, joined with tribes who had never been subdued, 
and gradually drove out or massacred their oppressors. A 
superior civilization disappeared before their devastating career, 
and to-day there is scarcely a trace of it left, except scarcely 
visible ruins, evidences everywhere, of extensive and hastily- 



deserted mining operations, and the tradition of the country. 
The mission of San Xavier del Bac, and the old towns of Tuc- 
son and Tubac, are the most prominent of these remains. 

From 1757 down to 1820, the Spaniards and Mexicans con- 
tinued to work many valuable mines near Barbacora, and the 
notes in my possesssion speak of many silver mines, most of 
which contained a percentage of gold. " The San Pedro gold 
mine in 1748 was worked with extraordinary success." Among 
the mines anciently worked, as laid down in the authorities 
heretofore referred to, were the Dolores, San Antonio, Casa 
Gordo, Cabrisa, San Juan Batista, Santa Anna, (which was 
worked to the depth of one hundred and twenty yards,) Rosa- 
rio, Cata de Agua, Guacialoupe, Connilla, Prieta, Santa Cata- 
rina, Guzopa, Hurstano, Arpa, Descuhidara, Nascosare, Ar- 
guage, Churinababi, Huacal, Pinal, and a great number of 
others, which it would only be tedious to mention. 

Every exploration within the past few years has confirmed 
the statements of the ancient records. The testimony of living 
Mexicans, and the tradition of the country, all tend to the 
same end. Colonel A. B. Grey, Colonel Emory, Lieutenant 
Michler, Lieutenant Parke, the Hon. John R. Bartlett, late of 
the United States Boundary Commission, all agree in the 
statement that the Territory, has immense resources in silver 
and copper. Colonel Emory says in his report : 

" On account of the gold mania in California I kept the search for gold 
and other precious metals as much out of view as possible, scarcely allow- 
ing it to he a matter of conversation, much less of actual search. Yet 
enough was ascertained to convince us that the whole region was teeming 
with the precious metals. We everywhere saw the remains of mining 
operations, conducted by the Spaniards, and more recently by the Mexi- 
cans." 

The report enumerates at considerable length the various 
localities examined by Colonel Emory's party, and others, of 
which there could be no doubt. 

The Hon. John R. Bartlett says of the " Salinas," one of 
the northern branches of the Gila, that it alone will supply 



8 

food for a great State. It must be recollected, in this connec- 
tion, that the great mineral wealth of Arizona will call for and 
amply repay for the redemption and expensive cultivation of 
all the available lands, and that irrigation produces immensely 
greater crops than the other method of planting. Throughout 
the whole of Utah, irrigation has been resorted to with the 
greatest success. The soil in Utah, in no place that the writer 
saw it, could in any way be compared to that of the bottom 
lands of Arizona. 

Captain Whipple, in his valuable report of exploration for 
the Pacific Railroad, published by order of Congress, crossed 
the upper part of the region alluded to, and which is watered 
by the Rio Verde and Salinas. He fully sustains me^in my 
remarks on those rich valleys. 

" We are in the pleasantest region we have seen since leaving the Choctaw 
country. Here are clear rivulets, with fertile valleys and forest trees. The 
wide belt of country that borders the Black Forest, and probably extends 
along the Rio Verde to the Salina and Gila, bears every indication of being 
able to support a large agricultural and pastoral population. The valley 
of the Rio Verde is magnificently wooded with furs and oaks, affording 
excellent timber. Ancient ruins are said by trappers to be scattered over 
its whole length to the confluence with the Salinas. We, there fore, "seem 
to have skirted the boundary of a country once populous, and worthy 
of becoming so again. Besides the advantages already enumerated, the 
mountains in this vicinity bear indications of mineral wealth." Vol. 3, 
p. 93. 

The notes above referred to, in the possession of the writer, 
speak of great farming and grazing establishments scattered 
over the whole face of the Territory, between 1610 and 1800, 
which produced abundant crops of cereals, fruits, and grapes. 
These statements are confirmed by the testimony of Major 
Emory and his report, where he enumerates several of the 
most extensive — by Gray, Bartlett, Parke, and Colonel Bonne- 
ville. Many of the ranches, deserted by the Mexicans on ac- 
count of the Apache Indians, have upon them large, well-built 
adobe houses which must have cost the builders thousands of 
dollars. Many of these have been occupied under squatter 
titles by emigrants within the last few years. Of oihers, only 



tlie ruins remain, having been destroyed by tlie depredations 
of the Indians, or by the heavy rains of succeeding years.* 

The country east of the Rio Grande is a great plain, broken 
only by the Sacramento and Gaudalupc mountains. Except in 
the towns on the river there is no population. The Mescalero 
Apaches have until lately made settlements unsafe. The estab- 
lishment of Fort Stanton, and the activity of the United States 
troops, have, however, reduced' this once formidable tribe innum- 
ber and spirit, so that an early settlement of the fine country 
in the vicinity of the Sacramento mountains may be expected. 
I have not visited this portion of the Territory, but from per- 
sons in whom I have perfect confidence, I learn that there is a 
large and valuable district, offering great inducements to stock- 
raisers. A number of bold, clear streams, alive with trout and 
other fish ; a good proportion of arable land, and an inexhaust- 
ible supply of oak, pine, hackberry, and other timber. In the 
Organ mountains, opposite the Mesilla valley, there are silver 
mines of great value. One of these, the old Stevenson mine — 
now known as the Fort Fillmore mine — has been purchased by 
New York capitalists, and preparations are making to develop 
its undoubted wealth. 

The Rio Grande valley, including the well known Mesilla, 
contains a large extent of unoccupied arable land, with plenty 
of water for irrigation. Until lately, the protection afforded 
by United States troops has enabled the people to cultivate in 
safety, and during the last year nearly one hundred thousand 
bushels of grain were raised in the valley, besides a large num- 
ber of cattle and horses. It is worthy of remark, that the 
settlements here, although mostly Mexican, have been made 
since the United States acquired the Territory, and that the 
lands are held under American title. The population is quiet, 
well behaved, and thoroughly American in feeling. It is esti- 
mated, and I believe correctly, that at least 50,000 people can 
be settled on the Rio Grande within the Arizona boundaries, 
and there are many attractions for the farmer and stock-raiser. 
West of the Rio Grande the country is a succession of mesas 

* See Memoir of Arizona, by Lieut. Mowry, from which the foregoing description is taken, 



10 

or table lands, ascending gently for nearly ninety miles to the 
Sierra Madre, and tlicnce westward for five hundred miles, 
gradually descending until they reach the Gulf of California. 
This extensive plateau south of the Gila, is broken by two 
well defined ranges of mountains, the Chir-aca-hui and Santa 
Rita, and by a number of isolated peaks, which assume some- 
thing the form of a sugar-loaf, and are called by the Mexicans 
Picachos and Peloncillos. 

The sun never shone on a finer grazing country than upon 
the three hundred miles west of the Rio Grande. The traveller 
has before him throughout this entire distance a sea of grass, 
whose nutritious qualities have no equal, and the stock-raiser in 
January sees his cattle in better condition than our Eastern 
farmer his stall-fed ox. Ninety miles west of the Rio Grande 
is the Mimbres river and valley. Passing over the dividing 
ridge of the Sierra Madre, with so gentle an ascent and de- 
scent as to make it almost imperceptible, you descend into a 
wide and beautiful valley, which at no distant day will support 
a large population. The banks of the river are covered with a 
fine growth of cottonwood, and above the usual crossing for 
emigrants, wild grapes and berries are found in great profu- 
sion. The Santa Rita del Cobre copper mine, of ancient fame, 
and a little to the northwest of the Mimbres, has lately been 
re-opened by a capitalist, who has already began to reap the 
reward of his enterprise. One hundred and thirty thousand 
pounds of this copper were sold a few months since to the 
Chihuahua mint for thirty-five cents per pound. A quantity 
has been sent to London and to New York to be experimented 
on. It is claimed that the superior malleability and ductility 
of this copper must make the demand for it very great. The 
Mimbres river sinks before reaching the line of Mexico. Some 
statements, which I have never been able to authenticate, make 
it flow in very rainy seasons into Lake Guzman. The Suance 
or Valle de Sauz is the next valley on the line of the emigrant 
road. The waters of this stream are very limited and inter- 
mittent. As it approaches the Gila the valley becomes better, 



11 

but it will never be available for extensive agriculture. The 
San Pedro river and valley, two hundred and fifty miles west 
of the Rio Grande, is par excellence the agricultural district 
south of the Gila. The valley is wide, very rich soil, and is 
considerably over one hundred miles in length. Owing to the 
depredations of the Apaches, no settlements have yet been 
made in this valley. There is, near the junction of the San 
Pedro with the Gila, and at the mouth of the Arivypa, a most 
beautiful and fertile region. A fine growth of ash covers the 
valley. The Santa Rita mountains, which separate tlie San 
Pedro and Santa Cruz, contain inexhaustible supplies of pine 
and oak, besides untold millions of the precious metals. A 
military post of four companies at the mouth of the Arivypa 
iTOuld open this entire country to settlement. 

Still following the emigrant and mail road fifty miles, brings 
us to the old Mexican town of Tucson and the valley of the 
Santa Cruz. Like most of the streams, the Santa Cruz is inter- 
mittent, sinking and rising at irregular intervals. A portion of 
this valley is covered with a heavy growth of Cottonwood. The 
mountains in the vicinity contain pine and oak, and the ex- 
tensive tracts of grazing lands south to the Mexican line, are 
covered thickly with the nesquit — the best fuel in the world. 
The town of Tucson now contains about a thousand inhabitants 
It once had three thousand, but the Indians, who desolated the 
whole of the Territory, had driven away all but about two hun- 
dred at the time of the Gadsden Purchase. Nine miles from 
Tucson, as you go up the valley of the Santa Cruz, is the old 
mission church of San Xavier, to which I have alluded else- 
where. It is stilll surrounded by a Papago Indian village, a 
few tame Apaches, and a few whites also live under the shadow 
of its towers. Incredible as the statement may seem, the 
church of San Xavier, with its elaborate facade, its dome and 
spires, would to-day be an ornament to the architecture of this 
great metropolis. No better evidence is needed of the resources 
and formrer prosperity of Arizona than is to be found in the 
now deserted missions of San Xavier and Tumacacori. 



12 

The town of Tubac, fifty miles southeast of Tucson, wliicls 
now boasts a population of several hundred, was entirely de- 
serted up to 1855, when it was re-occupied in part by the 
Sonora Exploring and Mining Company. They claim the 
town, and have given permission to a number of emigrants to 
occupy the old houses, and build new ones. Over what 
was once the towers of the barracks of the Mexican 
troaps, how floats a banner bearing the arms of peace 
a hammer and pick, the insignia of the company ; and in the 
rooms beneath, which once echoed to the tread of the successful 
Apache fighter, are now sold the calicoes and cotton goods of 
Lowell, and all manner of Yankee notions. The great Hunt- 
zelman mine, the mines of Arivaca, Sopori and Santa Rita are 
within a circle of twenty miles from Tubac. Three miles from 
Tubac is the mission of Tumacacori. Its venerable walls now 
shelter political exiles from Sonora, and a few enterprising 
Germans, and its rich lands are cultivated by the American 
squatter. Twelve miles further up the Santa Cruz is the 
Rancho of Calabazas, claimed as the property of the (jrandara 
family, of Sonora. The extensive buildings are occupied by 
American families, and the blacksmith's forge is installed in a 
room once dedicated to more delicate uses. The Sonoita 
valley, which opens into the Santa Cruz, near Calabazas, ia 
the only one in any degree protected by the United States 
troops. It is about fifty miles long, in no place exceeding a 
mile in width, and generally much narrower. When I passed 
up it to Fort Buchanan, the whole valley was golden with grain. 
In one field there were one hundred and fifty acres of corn. 
I counted upon four stalks eighteen full-grov/n ears, and the 
average height of the stalks was fifteen feet. When it is borne 
in mind that this land was but just turned, the corn planted, 
and neither hoed or suckered, I am sure it will be conceded 
that there is some agricultural land of value in Arizona. On 
several of the farms two crops were raised last year, wheat 
and corn, wheat and beans, and other vegetables. The 
farmer during the past year found a ready market for his 



13 

produce, liis purcliasefs being the troops and the Overland 
Mail Company. This valley is almost entirely taken up by an 
intelligent and adventurous American population ; and here is 
almost the only place in Arizona where you find that greatest 
of all blessings on the frontier, American women. 

The vSanta Cruz and San Pedro approach each other near 
the Mexican line, and by way of Santa Cruz, a Mexican 
town at the head of the valley in Sonora, you can 
pass from one to the other with ease. The whole region 
between the Rio Grande and the Santa Cruz is broken with 
conical-shaped hills and mountains, called by the Mexicans 
peloncillos. At the foot of these hills are found springs, which 
afforded water to the immense herds of cattle and horses which 
once covered the country ; and at many of these springs are 
found the ruins of buildings occupied by the herders. The 
hills are covered to the top with the gramma, and other nutri- 
tious grasses. 

Twenty miles east of the Sonoita valley, and just north of 
the town of Santa Cruz, is one of the richest silver regions of 
Arizona. 

The Wachupe mountain is believed to be inexhaustible in 
silver. The San Antonio and Patagonia mines, lately opened, 
promise a rich yield to their owners. One of these is of 
especial value, yielding, besides a large percentage of silver, 
53 per cent, of lead, which is purchased readily by the sur- 
rounding mining companies, to be used in reducing their ores. 

The once celebrated Compadre mines, lately re-discovered, 
are in this vicinity. The present fortunate proprietors found 
them after long and painful search. The shafts were found 
carefully concealed, partially filled with rubbish ; and thirteen 
furnaces in tolerable preservation, prove how extensively the 
mines were once worked by the Spaniards. Here, as in the 
whole of Arizona, the work of prospecting and exploring has 
but just begun. The ores of this district are principally argen- 
tiferous galena. 

West of the Santa Cruz, and south of the valley of the Gila 



14 

to the Colorado river, the territory is generally an irreclaimable 
desert. Its mountains abound in the precious metals, and a 
sufficiency of water for mining operations can usually be ob- 
tained without exorbitant expense. The celebrated Ajo copper 
mine, now known as the Arizona copper mine, is in this 
district. 

Mr. Edward E. Dunbar, whose facile pen has lately pre- 
sented to the public, through the columns of the Daily Times, 
some lifelike sketches of this portion of Arizona, was formerly 
the director of this mine, and the first I believe to demonstrate 
the fact that water could be obtained. I take much pleasure 
in bearing testimony to the conscientious regard for truth which 
characterizes Mr. Dunbar's statements; and although I am 
forced to differ with him in some of his conclusions, his 
knowledge of the country, gained by a long and painful expe- 
rience, entitle his opinion to much respect. The Arizona mine 
will one day prove of immense value ; like the rest of the 
mining companies, it needs the outlet on the Gulf of Cali- 
fornia. The valley of the Colorado is fertile, and will produce 
all the tropical fruits, as well as the cereals. The Indians, 
favored by the annual overflow, raise abundant crops of wheat, 
corn, pumpkins, melons and beans. The remains of extensive 
irrigating canals show that at some day long past, a large 
agricultural population lived here. The extreme heat of the 
climate in the summer months will prevent white labor from 
agricultural pursuits to any great extent. Rice, sugar and 
cotton are best adapted to the soil of the Colorado bottom. 
There is, in places along the bank, a fine growth of cotton- 
wood, and the whole valley abounds with the mesquit. This is 
the only portion of the territory where the heat is excessive. 

The valley of the Gila river, whose waters, j,flowing from 
east to west, divide the Territory nearly in the centre, four 
hundred miles long, can in most places be brought under 
cultitivation to a greater or less extent. 

Since the discovery of gold, a number of farms have been 
opened, and hundreds of acres of rich land put under cultiva- 



15 

tion. The Gila empties into the Colorado, one hundred and 
twenty-five miles above the head of the Gulf of California. It 
is well to observe here, that the difference in soil in different 
latitudes has not been sufficiently appreciated. The same soij 
which under the climate of Oregon is barren and worthless, 
becomes under the more genial sun of Arizona, fruitful, and 
when irrigated produces the same extraordinary crops as are 
found in California. 

The land cultivated by the Pimos on the Gila seems inex- 
haustible. Year after year they cultivate the same crops on 
the same land with nothing but water to enrich it, and there is 
no sign of failure. 

The valley known as La Florida, near the mountain of the 
same name, in longitude 109°, is worthy of especial mention, 
as having at its head the ruins of a once flourishing town. 
A large population will again occupy it at no distant day. 
But little is known of the country north of the Gila ; it is 
very mountainous, but contains several valleys of con- 
siderable size, nearly all of which bear the impress of an 
ancient and superior civilization. The principal northern 
tributaries of the Gila, are the Salado, the Tuberose, the San 
Carlos, and the San Francisco, (sometimes called the Alamos.) 
The Salado, according to my informant, Marcial, an Apache 
Chief, has six small branches : four flowing from the east ; two 
from the west. The Salado is the largest of all these streams, 
and has its source about latitude 34° in the Sierra Blanca 
mountains. 

On all of these streams the Apache Indian cultivates crops, 
principally of corn. The band known as the Coyetero, Pinal, 
or Sierra Blanca, cultivate most ; although they have had the 
least intercourse with the whites. 

The Indians of Arizona are best classed as friendly and 
hostile. The friendly Indians are the Pimos, Maricopas, Pa- 
pagos and Yumas, with a few scattering miserable tame 
Apaches. The Pimos and Maricopas occupy a beautiful and 
fertile tract on the Gila, one hundred and eighty miles from its 



10 

junction with the Colorado. A brave and hospitable race ; they 
live in villages, and cultivate the arts of peace. Their regular 
fields, well-made irrigating ditches, and beautiful crops of cot- 
ton, wheat, corn, pumpkins, melons and beans, have not only 
gladdened the eye, but also given timely assistance to the 
thousands of emigrants who have traversed Arizona on their 
way to the Pacific. The costume of the Pimos is extremely 
simple, only covering their loins, and a small straw hat — 
except in the case of the Chiefs, who wear a sort of pantaloon 
of coarse cotton cloth. The Pimos and Apaches wage here- 
ditary and fierce war ; in which the Pimos are generally the 
victors. So high were their services valued by the Mexican 
government, as a barrier to the incursions of the Gila Apaches, 
that whenever they visited the Mexican towns, the authorities 
treated them with marked hospitality and kindness, making 
them presents of value, to be paid for by the public treasury. 
Much as we pride ourselves upon our superior government, no 
measures have been taken to continue our friendly relations 
with the Pimos — and to our shame be it said, it is only to the 
forbearance of these Indians that we owe the safety of the life 
of a single American citizen in Central or Western Arizona, or 
the carriage of the mails overland to the Pacific. The Marico- 
pas live near the Pimos, and by contiguity and intermarriage 
have become similar in their customs. The Papagos resembla 
but are inferior to the Pinos ; do not cultivate so much, and 
live in scattered villages in the central and western parts of the 
territory. The Apaches, tribe of fatal memory for Sonora, 
and all northern Mexico, are best classified under their modern 
names. The Mescaleros, east of the Rio Grande ; the Mim- 
bres, Mogollones, Chir-aca-huis, Coyeteros or Pinaleros, Sierra 
Blanca, and the Tontos. In the order I have mentioned them, 
west from the Rio Grande, all of these have their homes north 
of the Gila, except the Chiracahuis. Velasco says tliese tribes 
have no fixed residence, no common society, no positive ante- 
cedents ; they are best compared to the prairie wolf, sneaking, 
cowardly, revengeful, quick to assassinate the weak, and to fly 



17 

from or yield to the strong. It is impossible for one who has 
not seen Northern Mexico, to imagine the desolation they have 
made in a country where nature has done so much. The name 
Infeliz Sonora — most unhappy — given by all the old writers, 
is most painfully true ; from the Gila in latitude 32° 30', to 
Guaymas in latitude 28°, their ravages are everywhere visible. 
Horrible as is the statement, more than one-fourth of the 
Apaches of to-day are Mexican captives, or their descendants. 
Not only ranches, and villages, and towns, but whole districts, 
have been depopulated, and the work is still going on. In 
small parties, and by different mountain passes, they descend 
into Sonora, surprise and attack a train of travelers or a 
town, massacre the men, and carry off the women, with such 
booty as they can hastily seize, to their haunts on the Gila. 

I obtained from Marcial, a leading Apache chief, and still a 
Mexican, much valuable information respecting these Indians. 
He had been carried off while a child, and had become, like his 
captors, savage. Velasco says, " without hesitation it must be 
admitted, that under no good treatment does the Apache yield 
his barbarism, his perfidy, or his atrocity ; notwithstanding 
the many treaties of peace made with the Pueblos, and the 
constant campaigns against them, upon the first opportunity 
they break faith, and become worse than before." 

" Though it is incontrovertible that the Apaches are the 
most ferocious tribe on our borders, yet the same may be said, 
even of them who from the time of the conquest belong among 
us; they call themselves pacific, yet have never, generally 
speaking, had sympathy with the whites ; they have not adopted 
our manners and customs, nor have we existing between us that 
confidence which inspires a same race, when they profess the 
same principles of social ties ;• in fact, during the whole period 
of time that they have been subordinates of our government, 
they have followed a system of contradiction and opposition 
against it as far as they were able. The unequivocal proof of 
this truth has been the frequent assaults that they have made 
3 



18 

upon U3 under the pretext of foolish stories with which they 
■were misled, and sometimes without any causes at all." 

The whole number of Apache warriors does not exceed two 
thousand. I have investigated this subject with probably more 
care than any other person, and am satisfied the number is 
rather under than over the truth. 

Being cowardly, they are afraid of Americans, and do not 
murder. Their depredations in our territory are mostly con- 
fiined to stealing cattle, horses and mules, Arizona will have 
no peace, and her great wealth as a pastoral region must remain 
undeveloped, until the War Department sends a strong force, 
and reduces them by fear to absolute submission, They must 
be fed by the government, or exterminated. They know no 
alternative but to steal or starve ; and Northern Mexico has 
been their prey for too many years for them to learn the arts 
of peace.* 

The Navajoes are included by Velasco among the Apaches. 
They live in New Mexico along the 34th parallel, north lati- 
tude. 

The Yumas, the remains of a once powerful tribe, live on 
the Colorado, near the Gila ; they are quiet ; sufiiciently agri- 
cultural to subsist. A few years will leave only their name. 

The climate of Arizona, except on the Lower Gila and the 
Colorado, is delicious ; never extremely hot, with cool summer 
nights, it offers great attractions to those who desire more 
genial skies than those of the North. Snow never lays in the 
winter, seldom falls ; frost is rare, though the nights are often 
cold, seldom freezing. The season for cultivating is long, 
fruits blooming in February and March. Cotton, corn, wheat, 
barley, tobacco, melons, grapes, peaches, and all the vegetables, 
yield profuse crops throughout the territory. The grape of the 
Rio Grande valley has no superior, and wine of good quality is 
manufactured from it. The rainy season in Arizona is from 
June to September, inclusive. 

* Since this address, information has been received of the murder of several 
Americans by the Apaches. 



19 

Professor Henry has, I believe, demonstrated that no rain 
falls in Arizona or Sonora. I have not seen his paper, but 
understand it is a beautiful theory. It is much to be regretted, 
for his sake, although not for the country, that the facts are 
against it. Cultivation in Arizona is by irrigation. It is 
believed by those who are capable of judging, that with subsoil 
ploAving, good crops can be obtained, and the results of one 
year are quoted in support of the theory. It will take a series 
of years to prove it satisfactorily to the farmer. The yield 
throughout Arizona is two crops from the same land in each 
year. 

The population of Arizona to-day exceeds ten thousand souls, 
exclusive of Indians ; two-thirds of it is established on the Rio 
Grande, in the towns of Mesilla, Las Cruces, La Mesa, Don 
Ana, Amoles, Santa Tomas, Santa Babara, Pichacho, and the 
surrounding ranches.* The American population of the terri- 
tory is not far from two thousand — this is rapidly increasing, 
and the ensuing spring will see it vastly increased. The gold 
discoveries, the overland mail — which runs throughout the 
entire length of Arizona — the large amount of capital invested 
in the silver mines, together with the increasing movement west- 
ward of our people, will add largely to the already vigorous 
and enterprising population of the new territory. It must be 
added that there is no law or protection from the government ; 
every man redresses his wrongs with the pistol or knife, or 
submits in silence. 

The Gadsden Purchase was not originally an integral part 
of Mexico ; it was acquired years after the Treaty of Gaudaloupe 
Hidalgo, and was only attached to the Territory of New Mexico 
as a temporary expedient. It must also be remembered that the 
Gadsden Purchase, with the portion of New Mexico which it is 
proposed to include within the limits of the Territory of Ari- 
zona, is separated from New Mexico proper by natural bound- 
aries ; that it derives no benefit from the present connection ; 

* Including the floating population of the Gila gold mines. 



20 

and that any opposition to the desired legislation arises from 
the Mexican population, -which fears the influence of a large 
American emigration. Moreover, that New Mexico contains 
upwards of 200,000 square miles, and that its organic act pro- 
vides for its partition ; showing clearly that Congress antici- 
pated, at no remote day, the settlement of the country by 
an American population, and its erection into several Territo- 
ries and States. The only effect of the present connection of 
Arizona with New Mexico is to crush out the voice and senti- 
ment of the American people in the Territory ; and years of 
emigration, under present auspices, would not serve to counter- 
balance or equal the influence of the 60,000 Mexican residents 
of New Mexico, New Mexico has never encouraged Ameri- 
can population. She is thoroughly Mexican in sentiment, and 
desires to remain so. 

As a matter of State policy, the organization of Arizona is 
of the first importance. Situated between New Mexico and 
Sonora, it is possible now to make it a thoroughly American 
State, which will constantly exert its influence in both direc- 
tions to nationalize the other two. New Mexico is at present 
thoroughly Mexican in its character and vote. Sonora, if we 
acquire it at once, will be the same. By separating Arizona 
from it, and encouraging an American emigration, it will become 
"the leaven which shall leaven the whole lump." By allow- 
ing it to remain attached to New Mexico, or by attaching it to 
Sonora, when acquired, the American influence will be swal- 
lowed up in the great preponderance of the Mexican vM;e. The 
Apache Indian is preparing Sonora for the rule of a higher 
civilization than the Mexican. In the past half century, the 
Mexican element has disappeared from what is now called Ari- 
zona, before the devastating career of the Apache. It is every 
day retreating further South, leaving to us, (when it is ripe for 
our possession,) the Territory without the population. 

The American population is mostly concentrated in the cen- 
tre of the Territory, in and near the Santa Cruz valley, and 
on the lower Gila, at the gold mines. The Overland Mail Com- 



21 

pany, by the establishment of these stations at intervals rarely 
exceeding twenty miles, have much facilitated intercourse and 
travel ; and the emigration of this year will cluster around 
these stations, pouring a line of villages across the continent ; 
in the language of the President, " a chain of American citi- 
zens which will never be broken." The establishment of the 
overland mail is not only one of the great triumphs of the age, 
but it is an element of civilization which none appreciates but 
the frontiersman. 

The ores of copper found in Arizona and Sonera, are usually 
the sulphurets, principally grey. The ores of silver are aurifer- 
ous galena, native silver, auriferous sulphuret of silver, black 
sulphuret of silver, sulphate of silver, sulphate of iron com- 
bined. The gangue is usually quartz or feldspar. I have be- 
fore me many notes descriptive of various mineral localities, 
even to minuteness, but the limits of this address will not per- 
mit especial mention of them. 

The development of the mineral wealth of Arizona has but 
just commenced, yet enough has been done to give a brilliant 
promise for the future. The Sonora Company, under the direc- 
tion of Charles D. Poston, Esq., and more lately under that of 
Major Heintzelman, of the Army, have expended a large capital 
in opening and prospecting their rich possessions. The Heint- 
zelman mine — so called after the President of the company — 
bids fair to become more famous than any of the great mines of 
old Mexico. From a late letter it is claimed that the ores thus 
far smelted, yield the astonishing average of $050 per ton. I 
saw this mine in September, of last year. About two hundred 
tons of the ore had already been extracted, and the jie\d from 
one small furnace was about one thousand ounces per week. 
At a cost of $30,000 the company have brought from San 
Francisco, and erected, amalgamating works, from which they 
expect to obtain $3,000 per day — a million a year. This mine 
has the most extraordinary reputation throughout Sonora. I 
found, in travelling through the State, that almost every shop- 
keeper knew the value of the ore. It Avas obtained from the 



22 

miners, who had stolen, and sold or exchanged it for goods. 
The Sopori mine, which has only been worked in a small way, 
promises also a rich yield. I have cut, Avith a penknife, native 
silver from ore taken from the Sopori. 

San Antonio and Patagonia have been already mentioned, 
as well as the Compadre mines. Many others are known to 
exist, and their owners are only waiting for the protection of a 
Territorial government to commence work. Others are deterred 
by want of capital. Several hundred thousand dollars have 
been already invested in mines in Arizona, and several com- 
panies are now forming. It is my profound belief thac the 
most colossal fortunes this country has ever known will be 
made from the mines of Arizona and Sonora. The Santa 
Rita copper mine, near the Mimbres, has already been men- 
tioned, as has the Arizona. On the Colorado, forty miles above 
the mouth of the Gila, on navigable waters, a copper mine is 
being efficiently worked. It promises to be inexhaustible, and, 
from its advantageous position, must be immensely valuable. 
The ore contains a percentage of gold. Silver has also been 
found on the Colorado, also gold quartz. On the Gila copper 
is abundant. In fact, the Territory of Arizona seems inex- 
haustible in minerals. Iron, copper, silver, and gold are found 
in hundreds of localities. A plumbago mine was discovered 
during the past year. 

Quicksilver is the only metal of which no mention has yet 
been made. I do not know of any in the Territory, though its 
existence is probable. 

Of the great extent of the gold region of Arizona there can 
be no doubt. The late discovery of placers, or surface dig- 
gings, on the Gila, has long been anticipated. Emory, in 1849, 
expressed his belief in its existence. Many an emigrant, on 
his way to California, has found "the color." Senator Gwin 
informs me that he heard of gold on the Gila from emigrants 
at San Diego in 1849. All the frontiersmen and trappers 
unite in saying that coarse gold is found in the streams north 
of the Gila. Marcial, the Apache chief before mentioned, told 



23 

me the same. That gold, in quartz veins, exists in many parts 
of the Territory, wo know, not only from ancient record and 
tradition, but from actual observation and experiment. A vein 
has been opened, and, as soon as it is safe, will be worked, in 
the Apache pass, four hundred miles cast of the present pla- 
cers. Almost every silver and copper vein yet opened shows, 
by close analysis, a trace of gold. In the Sopori mine it has 
gone as high as three per cent. At the Santa Rita del Cobre, 
the Mexican miners, after their day's labor is over in the mine' 
work the placers in the vicinity, making sure but small wages. 
Tradition tells us that many years since the ores of this mine 
were so rich in gold as to pay transportation to the city of 
Mexico on mule-back. A gold placer is believed to exist near 
a Papago village, south of Tucson. The evidence of rich gold 
placers in northern Sonora is indisputable. Work in them has 
nearly or quite ceased, on account of the Apaches, but the 
record of their past yield is enormous. The facts in reference 
to the present condition of the Gila gold mines in Arizona are 
simply these : At a point on the Gila river, about twenty miles 
from its junction with the Colorado, and in a succession of 
sand hills, gold was discovered in September, 1858. The em- 
igrants who were still on their way stopped, and, the news 
reaching California, o:;hers came in. I visited the gold mines 
early in November, and found about one hundred men and 
several families. A town called Gila city had already been 
laid out, and temporary houses of brush and adobe were in the 
course of erection. I examined carefully for myself, and found 
that several men could afibrd to pay laborers $3 per day 
and their board to work for them. I saw more than twenty 
dollars washed out of eight shovelfulls of dirt — and this in the 
rudest manner, and by an unpractised hand. I saw several 
men whom I knew well would not have been there had they 
not been doing well, Avho told me they had made from ^30 
to $125 per day each. I purchased about §300 in gold dust 
out of a lot of more than $2,000. A portion of this dust is here, 
if any one is curious enough to wish to see it. Several hun- 



24 

dred men have come into the mines since I left Arizona, . My 
letters give me no reason to suppose the mines have given out 
or shown any signs of failure.* The country at this point is not 
inviting, and there are always, at any gold diggings, men who 
do not and will not work, and who, if they cannot make a liv- 
ing by gambling, or feeding upon some one else, depreciate 
the country. Gold digging is the hardest of all work, and 
very precarious in the richest mines. A man who is earning a 
comfortable subsistence at home should hesitate long about 
giving it up for gold hunting. The old discoveries of gold on 
the Spanish trail from Utah to CaHfornia in 1850, the later 
ones in Kansas, at Pike's peak, and in Arizona, together with 
the well-known placers of Sonora, establish conclusively the 
fact of the existence of gold throughout a great belt of the 
continent, from north to south. I am indebted to the Hon. 
George Bancroft for a copy of a curious and rare letter, which 
it is not out of place to mention here. It is dated at Madrid, 
in 1769, and is addressed to the Duke de Choiseul, minister of 
foreign affairs for France, by the French ambassador at the 
Court of Spain. He says : 

[Extract.] 

Madrid, 6 fevrier, 1709. 

M. Galves qui a passe dans les Californies, a aussi mande 
qu'elles abondent en mines d'or et d'argent, et que ces pro- 
vinces que I'Espagne ne connaissait pour ainsi dire que de nom, 
pourront, dans la suite, produire une augmentation de revenue, 
fort considerable. 

(Signe,) OssuN. 

The conclusions to be drawn from the facts I have thus 
hastily set forth are these : That while Arizona cannot be 
called an agricultural State, she has a sufficiency of arable 
land to support a large population ; that as a grazing and pas- 
tural region she has unsurpassed advantages ; but her great 
wealth is found in her inexhaustible mineral resources. There 

^ Since this address, I have received discouraging accounts from the mines. 
S. M. 



25 

can be no doubt that if Arizona to day did not contain a single 
acre of arable land, her gold and silver, her copper and iron 
and lead, would some day make her one of the wealthiest 
of the States of the Union. 

Sonora, of which western Arizona once formed a part, is so 
closely connected in interest with Arizona that a brief mention 
-of her resources and condition is necessary to my subject. 

Sonora is bounded on the north by Arizona, on the east by 
the Sierra Madre range of moantains, which separate it from 
Chihuahua, on the south by the river Fuerte, which separates 
it from Sinaloa, and on the west by the Gulf of California and 
the Colorado river, which separate it from lower California. 
Its capital is now Hermosillo, was formerly Ures, and, more 
anciently, Arispe. The government of the State is at present 
an absolute despotism, under a so-called constitutional Gov- 
ernor named Peschiera. This State, which contains every 
element of wealth and prosperity, is in the most miserable con- 
dition. Its people look confidently to the United States for 
relief. The belief in their annexation is entire ; and while it 
is unpalatable to some, the great majority, satisfied that they 
can be no worse oiF, are ready to turn to any source which 
offers protection- from the Apaches, and the exemption from a 
monthly revolution, and its consequence — pillage and mas- 
sacre. 

In the preliminary advertisement to Noticias Estadistacas 
del Sonora, by Don Jose F. Velasco, a work from which I have 
freely quoted, the author says : 

" It is necessary to say, without equivocation, that if there 
be any State among those which compose the Republic of 
Mexico of which it is difficult to present exact statistics, that 
State is undoubtedly Sonora. Populated by an indigenous 
people, disseminated over the whole State, without laws or 
politics, and mingled with the nation of which it forms a part, 
it is very difficult to ascertain its numbers from its chiefs. It 
is for this reason that I have been only able to give approx- 
imatively the number of inhabitants. I have only undertaken 



26 

a work that at least approximates towards the truth, limiting' 
myself to certain notices which may give light to other writers 
on the same" subject." 

The State of Sonora, thus called by its earliest people of 
whom we have any knowledge, derives its name, according to 
the best authorities, from Sonot, an Opata Indian Avord, which 
means Senora, or Madam. The Conquistadores were treated 
with great hospitality by the Opata Indians while visiting their 
rancherias or villages. As a mark of friendship, the Indians 
strove to imitate the Spanish pronunciation Senora, instead of 
using their own word Sonot, from which arose the corrupted 
word Sonora. Sonora has been divided, by various writers, 
into upper and lower Sonora — into Pimeria Alta and Pimeria 
Baja — and still further, into the subdivisions of Arizpe Cien- 
eguilla and Horcasitas in the north, with Hostimuri Alamos 
and the Pueblas of the Mayo and Yagui in the south. The 
State formerly included Sinaloa, from which it was separated 
in 1 830. It is said to be a part of the plan of the present 
Governor, Peschiera, to again unite these States as the basis 
of a new confederacy. 

The people of Sonora are generally docile, and, making al- 
lowance for the bad system of government and* the great mis- 
ery in which they are found, are obedient to the constituted 
authorities — in fact, this remarkable docility amounts to weak- 
ness of character, and which ambitious revolutionary chiefs 
have taken advantage of to forward their own views. At the 
present date, the whole country is devastated by the Apaches. 
Daily, from all part=, reports are brought in that the Indians 
have destroyed ranches, killed the inhabitants, and depopulated 
whole towns. Tliis has been the case for many years, and, 
after so much suffering on this account, without a prospect in 
view for the better, it is not surprising that the Sonoranese has 
lost his energy of character. He gambles, to divert himself and 
pass away time, and, without hope for the future, he allows 
things take to their course — a perfect fatalist. Many become 
desperate, and take unlawful measures to better their condition. 



27 

It only requires a skillful hand and good government to make 
the worthless Sonorancso of the present day a useful member 
of society. Comparatively few educated men are found in So- 
nora — a common education, consisting of rending and writing; 
and I believe that in the whole population it docs not exceed 
five per cent, more, particularly in the frontier towns. A lead- 
ing trait in his character is hospitality, and " let the morrovr 
take care of itself" is a common expression in their mouths. 
He will share his last mouthful, and considers it a matter of 
course for the stranger to take his place at his board. 

The women are kind-iiearted, obedient to their husbands, 
who rule them generally with a rod of iron. Strong-minded 
women are not known, and usually peace reigns in their homes, 

Sonora, for the most part, is mountainous, watered by several 
small rivers, abundant in mineral wealth ; in fact, is considered 
to be one of the richest States of the Mexican Disunion. There 
is a sufficiency of agricultural land to maintain a large popula- 
tion ; but the true ricliness of Sonora consists in its mines of 
siver and gold, and the great facilities for raising stock. The 
mines at present are but little worked, owing to the Apaches 
and revolutions, but laboring under all these disadvantages she 
is still able to export annually several millions of dollars in 
silver bars and gold dust, large quantities of stock to Califor- 
nia and the Territory of Arizona ; also flour to the adjoining 
State of Sinaloa. 

The most famous mines and mining districts (minerals) are 
those of Alamos, situated in the district of that name, and 
property of the Almadas, Gomez y Urreas ; mine of Jubiate, 
near Hermosillo, property of the Verdes ; mineral of San 
Xavier, San Marcial, St. Teresa de Jesus, property of Ynigo, 
Cubillas & Co. The famous mine of mineral of Babacanora, 
at present worked by a French company ; mine of Babaraachi, 
the richest mine discovered within the last two years, having 
yielded $1,000 to the nine hundred weight of ore, and very 
abundant in ore — at present the yield is not so great ; mine of 



28 

Corral Vieja, gold, silver and lead ; La Canensa, silver, copper 
and lead ; La Guacliuca las Planchas de Plata. 

On the opposite side of the mountain of Babacanora, at the 
distance of about a league and a half, is found the Rial del 
Carmen, celebrated for its great mine of that name, and which 
has been worked to a great extent. It still yields a good profit 
to the Gambussino.* Ores are still found which yield from ten 
to twenty marcs to tlie batta. Ores — native silver, auriferous 
silver, gangue, quartz. 

This mine was worked in the first years of the Spanish con- 
quest of Mexico by Hernan Cortes, in later years by a com- 
pany of Spaniards, who found a chart and description of the 
mine in the archives of Mexico. It is remembered by the old- 
est inhabitant of Sinoquipe that native silver, six inches wide^ 
was cut out of the vein, and melted in the refining furnace with- 
out more treatment than a lead bath. This company, owing to 
the changes which took place in the Mexican territory, stopped 
work, carrying off with them several trains of mules loaded 
with silver ; the mine then partly filled with water, and the 
Gambussinos, who have been and are the cause of the destruc- 
t.on of so many good mines, commenced operations, cutting 
out the upper pillars and supports, and in a short time the 
mine fell in, leaving treasure to an enormous amount buried in 
the ruins ; in later days shafts have been sunk on the same 
lode, worked, and ores rich in silver have been encountered, 
paying from fifteen to twenty marcs the nine cwt. In the rub- 
bish which was thrown out of the old mine a comfortable sub- 
sistence is gained by washing in battas — quantities of grain 
silver being found which, refined in the furnace, yield from 
twenty-five to thirty per cent, pure metal. This, and several 
other mines of Sonora, have been abandoned, not from the 
ores having failed or depreciated in value, but from the want 
of energy in the Mexican race. The mines in the hands of the 



* The Gambussino is a sort of mining filibuster, who works regardless of 
the future of the mine. 



29 

Spaniards yielded enormous profits to the miner; they were 
men of indomitable enterprise, who employed capital, science, 
and spared no expense to succeed in their adventures ; whereas 
the Mexican is poor, without energy, and too lazy to trust, or 
help himself. Formerly Sonera the rich was a proverb ; now 
Sonora the poor is a stubborn fact — but not from the want of 
the elements of richness. These once developed, she will once 
more become Sonora the rich, and may be great. 

" In the Rial of Babacanora a miner is enchanted, and his 
hopes raised by seeing the beautiful formation which the whole 
district presents, more particularly that portion which compin- 
ses the ' Sierra del Oregano,' which, viewed from the houses, 
presents a magnificent spectacle. My poor pen cannot do it 
justice, so I shall content myself in stating a few facts con- 
cerning it which have come to my knowledge : "Veins of ore 
rich in silver are known to exist from the fact of ore being 
found in several parts of the mountain. Many capitals have 
been invested and lost in speculations utterly worthless ; where- 
as a small one, invested in making a good search and prospect 
of this mountain, would not be lost. This statement I* make 
after many years mining experience ; myself and many other 
miners who know the mountain will stake our credit on many 
tons of precious metal being hid in its interior. The formation 
clay state — the richest in Sonora — the fact of rich ore having 
been found on its sides and ravines, and the number of rich 
mines in the vicinity, all lead me to suppose such to be the 
case. The mines on mines of El Oregano must wait until some 
adventurous miner will expend a thousand or two to enrich 
himself with millions. 

" Mention has been made of an ancient population. On 
making particular inquiries respecting them, I find that they 
are common in all parts of the Sonora river, and even on the 
river Gila. The river Sonora, from its length, quantity of 
wanter and abundance of cultivable land, is peculiarly adapted 

* John Denton Hall, Esq. 



30 

to maintain a large population. Many of the ruins are of 
great extent, covering whole table lands, proving that in 
former times Sonora was much more thickly peopled than at 
present. Undoubtedly some regularity was observed in laying 
out these towns. In one I found what appeared to have been 
a fort ; by its position it was well calculated for defence. 
Unfortunately, no documents exist from which dates could be 
taken, the archives and all belonging to the JNIission having 
been destroyed at the time the Jesuits were expelled. It is a 
known fact here, and I believe in many other countries, that 
the order of Jesuits have done more towards civilization among 
the Indians than any other religious order in existence. It is 
undoubtedly the case in Sonora ; the ruins they have left 
behind them prove that they were equal to the task they 
undertook ; and among the old people their kindness and wis- 
dom is still remembered and talked of. * * * * 

" The tradition is current here, and in all parts of the Opata 
nation, that the great Montezuma was the chief of their tribe, 
and a great warrior. After subjecting the other tribes to his rule, 
he determined on building himself a city to live in on thel'iver 
Gila — in Casas Blancas. He commenced operations ; not lik- 
ing the situation, or being somewhat disturbed in his work by the 
Apaches — the only tribe which had not submitted to his rule, 
joined to the bad omens observed by his priests — he determined 
to travel in search of a good location, favored by his gods. 
At the time of commencing his new journey, an eagle was 
observed to be hovering over the camp ; orders were given to 
observe the bird's flight, and its resting-place ascertained ; hi^ 
commands Avere obeyed implicitly, and the eagle was found 
in the Lake of Mexico, perched on a nopal, with a rattlesnake 
in its beak. Here Montezuma founded the City of Mexico, 
which would have remained in his possession up to the present 
date, if Ilernan Cortes and his gallant adventurers had not 
disturbed his calculations in a most important manner. Such 
is the tradition, and it is considered heresy among the Opatas, 



31 

not to believe it. Eagle, snake and nopal is tlie escutcheon of 
Mexico. Snake alone ^YOl^l(l be more appropriate. 

" Humboldt mentions in his travels the having seen the ruins 
of Casa Blanca, on the river Gila. Another tradition is current 
also of Montezuma having told the conquerors of Mexico, that 
it would be an easj matter for them to subject to their rule the 
whole of the Indian tribes, but the Apaches never. We shall 
see what Uncle Sam can do with them in a short time."* 

The yield of the silver mines of Mexico, as computed by Ward 
and Humboldt from the actual official returns to the Govern- 
ment, from the conquest to 1803, amounts to the enormous 
sum of $1,027,855,000, or more thon two billions of dollars ! 
Again, Ward says : " I am aware that many of the statements 
in this and the preceding books respecting the mineral riches 
of the north of New Spain, (Sonera, including the ' Gadsden 
Purchase,' Chihuahua, and Durango,) will be thought exagger- 
ated. They are not so. They will be confirmed by every future 
report ; and in after years the public, familiarized ivith facts 
which are only questioned because they are new, will wonder 
at its present incredulity, and regret the loss of advantages 
which may not always be within its reach." 

Gold dust has been found in abundance in the placers of 
San Francisco la Sienga, las Llanos, Ouisabaquita, St. Perfecto; 
and Soni is famous for its gold mines, also Cocuspera and Baba 
Seco ; in the district of the Pueblo of Cucurpe, gold is found 
in abundance; during the rainy season in Baquachi district of 
Arispe, it is also found in quantities which pay well. In a 
word, Sonera, considered in a mineral point of view, equals, if 
not surpasses, the richest country in the known world, and only 
requires capital, peace, and a liberal government. The new 
Territory of the Arizona which formerly belonged to this State 
is considered by the Sonoranese to be the richest portion of 
their country. 

The climate is good. The rainy season sets in in June, 



* Notes of John Denton Hall, Esq. 



32 

and lasts till the beginning of September ; from this month 
until March occasional showers fall. The cold is never 
severe ; the weather being very similar to that in Cali- 
fornia in the same months. From March until the rain sets 
in in June is considered the dry season. The heats 
are never oppressive, less so than in California. Two crops 
are raised from off the same land in the year, and which for 
abundance cannot be surpassed in any country — wheat, maize, 
beans, peas, &c., being the general" grain that is cultivated. 
Sugar-cane is planted in great quantities in Hermosillo, San 
Miguel, Urcs, Rayon, Oposura, Saguaripa, Huepaca, and the 
E-io Yaqui. A coarse kind of sugar is made called panocha, 
which yields to the cultivator an excellent return for his labor, 
generally selling at $25 the cargo of three hundred weight. 
In all parts of the State most excellent tobacco is raised. Cot- 
ton is sown by the Indians in the Rio Yaqui, and the grub 
(cotton worm) is hardly known in the crops. The average 
price of wheat is $8 cargo of three hundred weight, beans and 
peas 6. 

The State is divided into nine districts, each being governed 
by a Prefecto, who is appointed by the Governor, and is re- 
sponsible for the good order of his district. The port of Guay- 
mas, at present is the only port of entry. It is a small, but in 
the business part, well built town, containing about six thousand 
inhabitants. The harbor of Guaymas is the best on the Pacific 
coast. Four miles long, with an inner and outer bay, it will 
admit ships of the heaviest tonnage, and the commerce of the 
world could be transacted at this port. The entrance_is pro- 
tected by a long island, which makes it doubly secure. 

The principal rivers of Sonora are the Fuerte, the Yaqui, 
the Mayo and the Sonora. The Yaqui enters the Gulf of 
California eighteen miles below Guaymas. It has a dangerous 
bar, but it is believed to be navigable for light draft steamers 
to Buena Vista, eighty miles from its mouth. The Sonora 
river flows through the Arizpe valley, and is called the Garden 
of Sonora. It is almost wholly in the hands of the Apaches 



33 

The desolation of the depopulated towns and ranches is melan- 
choly beyond description. The valleys of the Yaqui, Mayo 
and Fuerte, are the best sugar lands in the world. 

Ures is a small city of about seven thousand inhabitants, and 
is situated about sixty leagues from Guaymas. Ilermosillo is 
the largest city, containing from fourteen to fifteen thousand 
inhabitants. It is the centre of commerce. It is one hundred 
and ten miles north of Guaymas. The next in size and im- 
portance is the Rial de Alamos, situated on the frontier of 
Sinaloa ; it contains from five to six thousand inhabitants ; it is 
the centi-e of a large mining district, as its name implies — Rial 
meaning town or city of mines. Oposura, Saguaripa, Rayon, 
St. Miguel and Arispe, the ancient capital of Sonora, are large 
towns, with populations of from four to five thousand each. 
The entire population of Sonora does not exceed one hundred 
and thirty-five thousand, comprising Mexicans, [Iiente de razon) 
Opatas, Yaquis, Mayos, Taumales and Papagos ; this popu- 
lation, instead of increasing is decreasing — the Apaches, 
revolutions and emigrations to California and Arizona produc- 
ing this eifect ; and in a few years, if some change does not 
take place, Sonora will become depopulated. The friend to whom 
I am indebted for many of these notes, says : 

"After so many years residence among them, I naturally feel 
an interest in their welfare, firmly believing that the grain of 
gold in their character among so much dross is worthy of seek- 
ing out, and will repay the finders. The United States could do 
it, and would to God it should be so; and I and many others 
will be found ready to co-operate in any just and honest mode 
of bringing round a mutual good understanding."* 

" But one conclusion can be drawn of the state of Sonora, and 
that is, in order to redeem to the Sonoranese his character, life 
and fortune, it is necessary to subject or utterly annihilate the 
savage Apache who has served as the destroying angel to this 
fine country. It is the most sure and ready way to gain the 

* John Denton Hall, Esq., to whom I beg to make my grateful acknowl- 
edgments for many of the facts in reference to Sonora. 



84 

eternal gratitude and friendship of the people^ and annexation 
of one of the richest countries in the known world, Avhich will 
also serve as another connecting link of the great chain of 
commerce with the Indies." 

Velasco says, in concluding his review of Sonora and the 
Sonoranse : 

" In truth, this is a most sorrowful scene ; it horrors one to 
consider the state of prostration which we are now in, by the 
continued bad feeling of party, Avhich keeps us savage in civil 
war, and all the while forgeting our own interests. 

*' For parties to harrass each otlier mutually ; for brother to 
slaughter brother to satisfy revenge, &c., in a moment, are 
formed enthusiastic masses ; but the same does not happen 
when the common enemy is to be punished, who are now with 
gigantic strides destroying the country. Until the Sonoranese 
shall know that as long as they do not bury in the fold of their 
country, and each one give a brotherl}^ embrace in good faith, 
we shall continue to be the plaything of passions the most 
strong and savage." 

Having had considerable practical experience on the plains, 
four journeys overland across the continent in the past four 
years, I was desirous of stating a few facts, showing the com- 
parative merits of the diflerent routes for a Pacific railroad. 
The limits of this address will not permit, and I therefore 
turn from the subject, with the prediction that the route 
known as the southern, along the 32d parallel, is the only one 
that will be built in this generation. Every exploration has 
shown it to be, not only the most practicable, but probably the 
only practicable route. The advocates of this route point to the 
significant fact that the mail from San Antonio to San Diego 
has never once failed in eighteen months of operation, winter 
or summer. The great overland mail makes its best time on 
the 32d parallel, and that portion of the route denounced as 
the worst, from El Paso west, has proved itself the best. Thir- 
teen hundred miles by stage in December or January in less 
than eight days. Is there any other route on the continent 



35 

where this can be accomplished ? Not on the Salt Lake route. 
It is wholly impracticable. Not on the Albuquerque route, else 
Lieutenant Beale Avould not go into winter quarters. On the 
32d parallel no winter quarters are necessary. It is useless to 
attempt to evade this question of climate on so extended a route. 
In addition, the 32d parallel is by far the most level, and 
has the most water at all seasons of the year. (See Lieutenant 
Parke's report.) The first terminus of the Pacific railroad will 
be Gaaymas, on the Gulf of Oilifornia. From El Paso to 
Guaymas the distance is only about fourhuiidrel miles, at most 
four hundred and fifty. It will run across the Guzman valley 
through the Guadalupe or some more southern pass to Arizpe, 
thence to Ures, thence to H^rmosillo, thence to Guaymas. It 
can be built mosc, if not all the way, for $10,003 per mile, and 
put in running condition. It would pay to-day between Her- 
raosillo and Guaymas in freight alone. It will traverse a rich 
agricultural and mining country, and can connect with San 
Francisco and all the Pacific by steamers. A branch from 
Arizona down the valley of the San Ignacio would give Arizona 
the outlet she so much desires for her productions. It connects 
with the Texas road at El Paso, and, notwithstanding all the 
predictions to the contrary, the Texas road will be built. 
Should it be deemed desirable to extend at once to the Pacific, 
a steam ferry across the Gulf of California, and short railroad 
across Lower California, to a roadstead on the Pacific, accom- 
plishes the desired end. If these views were elaborated, they 

could be supported by an array of evidence not to be over- 
thrown. 

In a report made to the Viceroy of Spain, during the early 
settlement of the province of Arizona and Sonora, is found the 
following words : '"A scientific exploration of Sonora, with refer- 
ence to mineralogy, along with the introduction of families, 
will lead to a discoveiy of gold and silver so marvelous, that 
the result will be such as has never yet been seen in the world." 
The Spanish race have but just touched these treasures. It 
remains for the American people to make good the prediction. 



36! 

With the organization of Arizona and the acquisition of 
Sonora, a new impetus will be given on the Pacific. The 
Mexican population will recede before the energy of American 
career. At Guaymas a city will go up, which shall have no 
parallel in the magic of her increase, except San Francisco. 
The auri sacra fames is as strong to-day as in the days of 
old. Allured by the story of the New Eldorado which is just 
opening, tens of thousands of ercigrants will hurry thither. 
Our empire on the Pacific is just founded. Its growth in the 
future will equal that of the past, if the United States seizes 
the golden opportunity now offering. The wealthiest and most 
delightful of countries will be redeemed from the barbarism 
into which it is so fast falling. An immense market will be 
opened for northern productions ; commerce will again be stimu- 
lated as it was by California ; and the prediction of Humboldt, 
that the balance between gold and silver would one day be re- 
stored, will be made good from the treasures of Arizona and 
Sonora. 



APPEN DIX 



The following summary of the advantages of the southern 
route along the 32(1 parallel (which traverses Arizona) is fromi 
the late conclusive speech of the Hon. Jefferson Davis in the 
Senate of the United States. No one could deal more fully 
and intelligibly with the great subject of a railroad communi- 
cation across the continent than has Senator Davis ; and I have 
no comment to make upon his complete vindication of the 
southern route, except to say that the officers of the army who 
made these explorations are men who understand their duty, 
and have no object to subserve except to gain an honorable 
reputation by the fidelity and thoroughness of their reports. 
I am able, from personal observation, to bear testimony to the 
signal ability with which these duties have been discharged. It 
is understood that Lieutenant J. C. Ives, Topographical Engi- 
neers, who assisted Captain Whipple in his survey of the 35th 
parallel route, called the Albuquerque, and who has since been 
over both this and the 32d parallel, gives the most decided 
preference to the southern route. 



Extract from the Speech of the Hon. Jefferson Davis, of Missis- 
sippi, on the Pacific Railroad Bill, in the United States 
Senate, January, 1859. 

I will now proceed to the consideration of the only remaining line 
the route of the i hirty-second parallel. I Lope I am not expected to 
make it quite smooth, or find water at convenient distances, culti- 
vable land, and timber continuously along the route. I know of no 
such route across our Territories. I wish I did. If there were a 
route where it was thus made easy to build a railroad, we might feel 
a more happy security for the future. It would bring in its train not 
only the construction of such a work, but that continuous population 
which is needful to bind the two parts of the country together. 
Knowing no such line, I believe it is a herculean task to construct 
the road, attempt it where you will. Go on what parallel of latitude 
you may, all you can do is to take the least of most serious 



38 

obstacles. I reached the conclusion that the difficulties were least 
on the thirty-second parallel : not that they were light. This con- 
clusion was based upon the information possessed at that time. Sub 
sequent explorations have materially improved the location upon the 
route, as I shall proceed to show, first describing the section from the 
Rio Grande to the Piinas Villages, 
The Office Examination says : 

«' After ascending from the bottom lands of the Rio Grande, in traversing 
the I'Pgioti examined by Lieutenant Parke between these two rivers, from 
Dona Ana to tlie Pinias villages, one appears to be traveling on a great plain, 
interrupted irregularly and confusedly by bare, rugged, abrupt, isolated 
mountain masses, or short ranges, seemingly, though not in reality, without 
system. Winding around these isolated or lost mountains, or using a few 
passes through them, a railroad may be constructed with easy grades. Ex- 
cept through liie mountain passes, the surface is so smooth as to require but 
little preparation to receive the superstructure of a railroad ; and even in 
the two most difficult of the passes, (where in one case, deep cutting or a 
tunnel at the summit, near the surface, in rock, with lieavy side cuttings and 
high embankments for short distances, and in the other a short cut of sixty 
feet — prob ibly through rock — are proposed by Lieutenant Parke, to attain 
grades of forty-six-feet and ninety feet per mile, or less by increasing dis- 
tance,) the natural slope of the ground may be used for a railroad for tempo- 
rary purposes, and until the road itself can reduce the cost of materials and 
supplies to the lov/est rates." 

The resurvey by Lieutenant Parke shows that these two most dif- 
ficult passes may be avoided. 

In I elation to the supply of water upon this part of the route, the 
report of the Secretary says : 

"The great difficulty experienced in crossing this district is in the long 
distances over which no water is found at certain seasons. The survey by 
Lieutenant Parke was made during the dryest season of the year, and. irre- 
spective of the springs found at intermediate points, the whole distance 
between the two rivers Rio Grande and Gila, may be divided into five 
spaces, varying fiom eighty to fifty-three miles in length, at the termination 
of which, large permanent supplies of water are found at the most unfavor- 
able season of the year. 

These spaces and points are — 

From the Rio Grande to the Rio Mimbres 71 miles. 

From the Rio Mimbres to the stream of the Valle de Sauz. .72 " 

From the Valle de Sauz to the San Pedro 80 " 

From the San I'edro to Tucson 53 " 

From the Tucson to the Gila 79 " 

Intermediate between these streams are permanent springs ; and 
the new survey has improved the location in this respect. In his 
last report, Lieutenant Parke states : 

<' The supply of water upon the plateau is limited. Along and near the 
proposed line it is found at the following localities, and from these the work- 
ing parties can be supplied : at Neide's spring, at the southwest corner of 
the Basaltic hills, east of Cooke's spring; Rio Mimbres; Agua Fria, Ojo de 
la Vacca; Ojo de Inez; Valle del Sauz; in the Puerto del Dado; Croton 



39 

springs at the Playa de los Pimas; Castro spring, nrar the Railroad Pass 
under Mount Graham; Plieasant freek; Antelope and Dove springs at the 
base of the Calitro mounlains; and at Bear spi-iiigs at the iiead ofllie Ara- 
vajpa. The distances, in direct lines, from one of these localities to another, 
are as follows : 

From the [lio Grande to Neidc's spring 40 miles. 

From Neide's spring to Cooke's spring 12 " 

From Cooke's spring to Rio Mimbres , . . .^1 " 

From Rio Mimbres lo Agua Fria 15 " 

From Agua Fria to Ojo (ie la Vacca tl " 

From Ojo de la Vacca to Ojo de Inez 12 " 

From Ojo de Inez to Valle del Sauz 40 " 

From Valle del Sauz lo Puerto del Dado 23 " 

From Puerio del Dado to Castro spring 3U " 

From Puerto del Dado to Croton springs 30 " 

From Castro spring to Croton springs 18 " 

From Croton springs to Pheasant creek 12 " 

From Pheasant creek to Antelope spring 3 " 

From Anlelope spring to Dove spring '^14''' 

J'rom Dovti spring to Bear spring Ifi " 

" On the San Pedro route water is abundant and convenient, at Chameleon 
spring and Prospect creek, and in the entire valley of the Rio San i'edi'o. 
Besides these permanent supplies, water is found, after the rains, on tlie 
playits and in depressions in the drains." 

It Las been argued, and I think successfully, that if the road were 
built, it might be worked from one supply of water to another : but 
that has never satisfied my mind in relation to the dithculty which 
presents itself in building the road Without tanks or wells I do 
not see how the road is to be built, how working parties are to be 
sustained, with the distances which are found upon every route which 
has been surveyed. 

The facilities for making such artificial reservoirs upon this part of 
the thirty-second parallel route are thus favorably described by 
Lieutenant Parke : 

" For the working parties in the construction of the road, during the dry 
season, water can be obtained from the several above mentioned permanent 
sources of supply, but this will involve, of necessity, much haulage, the 
maximum distance being twenty-three miles. But 1 am clearly of the 
opinion that water can be obtained at other points along and near the line of 
construction by sinking common wells. These playa formations are particu- 
larly favorable. Being basin-shaped, they receive and retain the drainage 
from the surrounding country, giving us natural reservoirs,* which require 
only to be tapped to give a constant and plentiful supply." 

I will next proceed to describe the section west of the Pimas Vil- 
lages. The Office Examination states : 

" We have now reached the Gila, seven miles above the Pimas villages, 
the elevation above the sea being one thousand three hundred and sixty-five 
feet. From this point to its junction with the Colorado, the valley of the 

* New discoveries of springs have been made since Parke"s report, and will continue to be 
as the conntry is opened. 



40 

rivei' is highly favorable to the construction of a railroad. There will be no 
necessity for embankments against freshets, but trifling occasional cutting 
and tilling; and, in those instances where the hills close in upon the river, 
there is ample space for the road without heavy cutting. The elevation at 
the mouth of the river being one hundred and eight feet, and the distance 
between the two points two hundred and twenty-three miles, we have a gen- 
eral slope of live nnd six-tenths feet per mile, which, from the favorable 
character of the ground, may De assumed as the grade of the road. 

" Water and luel for working parties are sufficient, though no grass. Logs 
may be driven down the Gila from the Mogoyan mountains, at its source, 
from the Pinal Lleno, and down the San Francisco and Salinas rivers, from 
the pine forests on the former, and the mountains at the source of the latter. 

" liut it may be found more economical to receive all the supplies of lum- 
ber needed for the western portion of the road, either from the San Ber- 
nardino mountains and Pass, or from the harbors of San Pedro or Diego, or, 
should it be found desirable to establish one, from the depot near the mouth 
of the Gila." 

Senators will perceive that I am here explaining the basis on 
which I fonued the opinion which governs my vote in this case. I 
have no controversy with anybody. I du not expect to satisfy gen- 
tlemen that their routes are not as good as they wish them ; but I 
am dealing with the facts as they are contained in the reports, to 
justify me in the opinion which I have officially expressed, and on 
which I am now acting in my proposition to grant a given s im to 
make a railroad. I have not encountered all this labor in a mere 
spirit of controversy. 

"The most favorable point r crossing the Colorado is at the junction of 
the Gila, where the river is narrowest, six hundred and fifty feet wide, and 
has bluff's oM both banks." 

" The direction that the road should take across the desert intervening 
betvteen it and the foot of the Coast range depends, in part, upon the posi- 
tion of ihe pass by which it crosses this mountain chain. There are two 
p:isses known and explored. Warner's, the more southerly of tfie two, will 
require five miles of excavation in granite and mica slate for the full width 
of the road, ihe grades varying from one hundred and thirty to one hundred 
and ninety feet per mile." 

" The distances from the mouth of the Gila, over the desert, to the en- 
trance of this pass, is eighty miles; thence to San Diego is one hundred and 
fifty miles. I'lie ?ian Gurgonio or San l^ernardino Pass, on the contrary, is 
remarkably favorable. It is an open valley, from two to five miles wide, 
the surface, smooth and unbroken, affording in its form and inclination every 
facility and no obstruction to tlie building of a railroad." 

This plain, eighty miles in width, has been treated as a desert 
jnrnado, althougli there are springs and wells upon it, and the water 
of the Colorado sometimes overflowing or rising in the middle of the 
plain, forms what is called New river. The plain is certainly defi- 
cient in water; but it is evidently a delta formation, and not a desert 
in the sense of being unproductive because of its constituent ele- 
ments. It is all of alluvial formation, clearly once belonging to the 
Colorado, and habitually overflowed by it ; but the deposit on the 
banks of that stream, having enough moisture and tenacity to catch 
the sand driven upon it by prevailing winds, at last became a natural 



41 

levee or barrier sufficient to restrain the floods; and long drought 
rendered the alluvial plain west of the river entirely sterile. Thus, 
1 am informed, it is now along the Kio Grande. When the cultiva- 
tion of a field is abandoned, left for but a few years Avithout irriga- 
tion, sterility ensues, but it can be restored to fertility by again sup- 
plying it with moisture. 

The supply of timber upon this whole route is deficient. The 
points where it may be obtained are thus stated in the Office Exam- 
ination : 

" Let us assume the most unfavorable case for supplies of ties and lumber 
over that portion of the route between the eastern limit of the Llano Esta- 
cado and the summit of tlie San Gorgonio Pass, 1,052 miles — llial is, that 
they must be brought from either end of the road, say three hundred miles 
from the eastern limit of the Llano Estaeado, and frcm the port of San Pe- 
dro on the Pacific, one hundred miles from the summit of the San Gorgonio 
Pass, malviiig the points of supply i,400 miles apart: the greatest distance to 
Avhich they must be transported from each end is, therefore, 700 miles by ihe 
road, the point of junction of supplies from the east and west being about 
110 miles west of the Rio Giande. Lumber can, undoubtedly, be procured 
in the Pied river district for $30 per 1,000 feet. The additional cost for trans- 
portation to the Llano, 300 miles by the railroad, at three cents per ton per 
mile, (double the usual cost on eastern railroads) is :S,i3i.,',and its cost there 
$43'.^ per 1,000 feet; the cost per 1,000 feet for 450' miles additional trans- 
portation is $20, and hence the cost per 1,000 feet at tliis extreme point will 
be $63j.<. The mean cost over these 400 or 450 miles from the eastern limit 
of the Llano Estaeado will be ^SS^o P^r 1,000 feet. From Fulton to the 
Llano it is unnecessary to estimate its cost. 

" Lumber may be delivered at San Pedro or San Diego from Oregon for 
^30 per 1,000 feet. Abundance of it can be got out from the San Bernardino 
and other mountains near the line of the road at that cost, and it may be as- 
sumed, therefore, to be supplied at San Pedro or San Diego at that price, 
and at a mean cost over the road (the road supplying itself, as it must do, 
sections of 40 or 50 miles being built at a time) of ijUC per 1,000 feet. 

" The worst case liaving been discussed, it remains to bo said, that good 
ties and lumber can be obtained from the Guadalupe and Hueco mountains, 
from the head-waters of the Rio Mimbres, from the Pinal Lleno, Salinas 
river, and head-waters of the San Francisco, and from the San Bernardino 
mountains, of the Sierra Nevada or Coast range, which sources of supply 
uiay be found to materially obviate the necessity of transporting lumoer from 
the two ends of the road." 

In fine, it may be said that the route of the 32d parallel from the 
Mississippi river to the Pacific ocean is the shortest of those ex- 
plored, its length being from one to four hundred miles less than the 
shortest of the other routes ; it is likewise the shortest route to San 
Francisco, being one hundred miles shorter than any other. The 
vast uncultivable belt through which all the routes must pass is 
crossed by the route of the S'ld parallel where the width is least, its 
length through this region being two hundred miles shorter than 
upon any other line. 

The mountain region on this route has the least elevation, and the 
table lands preponderate to a greater degree than on the other 
routes. 



42 

It is the most econoinical route ; the estimated cost to the Pacific 
being from eighteen to twenty nnllion dollars less than that of any 
other, and to 8aii Francisco $10,000,000 less ; the cheapness of con- 
struction being due to the great extent of plains and table lands, 
where the road-bed preparation required is slight. 

The mountain passes are open, and their natural slopes admit of 
temporary use without costly preparation. The winters are so mild 
that no difficulties, impediments, or dangers from snow and ice are to 
be apprehended, and this admits of the use of steep grades, and 
greatly facilitates construction. 

On all the routes unusual means must be resorted to for supplies 
of water at the distances common on railroads. The intervals be- 
tween the large permanent supplies on the route of the o2d parallel 
are not too great for the working of a railroad, but additional sup- 
plies, at shorter distances, may be collected by tanks or wells. 

In the uncultivable belt that separates the Mississippi valley from 
the Pacific slope, occasional areas of arable soil are to be found. The 
route of the o2d parallel is neither less favorably situated in this 
respect, nor in mineral wealth, than those in other latitudes, nor is 
the supply of building materials aud timber materially less on this 
route than on the others, excepting an interior portion of the route 
near the forty- ninth parallel. 

In confirmation of the opinion expressed in the Secretary's report 
upon the comparative advantages of the thirty-fifth and thirty-second 
parallel routes, 1 wish to refer to the testimony of a civil engineer 
who has traveled over both, and looked at them with a view to the 
construction of a railroad — Mr. Albert H. Campbell. He was first 
connected with Capt. Whipple's party for exploring the route near 
the thirty-fifth parallel ; subsequently with that of Lieut. Parke 
when re-examining the route near the thirty-second parallel. I in- 
tend to read from a letter which I find addressed by him to the Hon. 
Guy M. Bryan, of Texas, in relation to the Pacific railroad, pub- 
lished in 1858. On the first page he sets forth his total iudifi'erence 
as to which of the two routes may be selected, and the absence of 
any pecuniary motive to influence him in one way or the other. He 
says : 

'* 1 have no pecuniary or landed interest in the El Paso route, and conse- 
quently liave no motive for my preference, except an honest conviction, de- 
rived from personal observation, that it is emphatically the most practicable, 
cheapest, and shortest route between the Mississippi river and the Pacific 
ocean; and the country through which it passes, as a whole, will compare 
favorably witii any other route in agricultural and pastoral resources, and in 
mineral wealtli, and that it is the only route that can be successfully worked 
during the entire year." * * * * 

" It is practicable to construct a railroad along the Albuquerque route, as 
reported by CaptainWhipple; but I maintain, andam willing to leave it to the 
decision of the ablest impartial railroad engineer in the coimtry, that it can- 
not be done without an immense outlay of treasure in preparing a road-bed, 
and exceeding, by at least twenty-five per cent., the cost of constructing a 
road of equal length over the thirty-second parallel." 



Of tlie climate, lao sajs : 

" In regard to the climate of uiiiier, on tire All)uquer(|uc riuite, I am salis- 
fied that it will be I'ound too cold to work a railroad successfully for at least 
three, if not four n^onths of tlie vear. The n;coided experience of six win- 
ters at Fort Defiance, only twenty miles in latitude north of Campbell's Pass, 
and about the same elevation — as I observed when 1 went lo that post in 
IS'ovember, 18.')3, ihrout^h Campbell's Pass, though the Army Meteorological 
Piegister, page 64?., puts its down (or rather up) to '7,'JWO (?) feet ' above 
the level of the sea — must be taken as conclusive of the fact of it being at 
times extremily cokl. 

"At Albu<4uerque, according to the meteorological report of the medical 
■department of the United States Army, the maximum and minimum temper- 
atures respectively were, for the winter months of 184!) and 1850 — in Decem- 
ber, 53 deg., 5 (leg.; January, 49 deg., 12 deg. below zero; February 57 deg., 
17 (leg. For 1850 and 1851 — in December, 52 deg., 5 deg. belov/ zero; 
January, 57 deg., 8 deg.; Febru3ry, 59 deg., 7 deg. For 1852 and 1853 — in 
December, ()5 deg., 21 dog; January, 65 deg., 19 deg.; February, 66 deg., 
13 deg. For 1853 and 1354 — iii December, 66 deg., 20 deg.; January, 63 
deg , 5 deg.; February, 67 deg. 15 deg.; and in December, 1854, 58 degrees, 
19 degrees. 

".•\t Fort Defiance, about twenty miles north of Campbell's Pass in lati- 
tude, and from three to five hundred feet higher, the maximum ami minimum 
temperatures respectively were, for the month of December, 1851, 62 deg., 
4 deg; eighteen inclies snow. For 1852 and 1853 — in December, 50 deg., 
2 deg.; January, .55 deg., 7 deg.; February, 56 deg , 6 deg. For 1853 and 
1854 — in December, 57 deg., 6 deg. ; January, 49 deg., 20 deg. below zero; 
February, 54 deg., 2 deg. For 1854 and 1855 — December, 65 deg., 10 deg. ; 
January, 59 deg., 17 deg. below zero; February 61 deg., 13 deg. For 1855 
and 1856 — December, 56 deg., 25 deg. below zero; January, 54 deg., 8 deg. 
below zero; February, 51 deg., 3 deg. belov/ zero. 

A great error has been coimnitted in supposing that because the 
thirtj-fifth-parallel route is in a southern hititude, it must be in a 
warm country. Temperature depends as mucli upon elevation as upon 
latitude ; and fertility results not from the constituent elements of 
the soil alone, but from the meteorological conditions of the atmos- 
phere also. Here is an elevation of seven thousand feet above the 
sea., and a country of extreme aridity. The air from the ocean depos- 
its the moisture it possessed in passing over the mountain ranges, 
before it reaches this plain. Over it broods a forbidding sterility, and 
across it the winter winds sweep with a degree of cold scarcely less 
intense than that found in any portion of our country. At the close 
of this table, the writer says : 

" The table above will give a fair idea of the climate of the country. The 
winter of 1855 and 1856 was more severe than any one known for many years. 
The wintry weather commenced on the 1st of iVovember, 1855, and has con- 
tinued up to t'le present time, (March 14, 1856.) The Rio Grande, at Albu- 
querque, was frozen over, and with ice sufiiciently strong to bear a horse 
and carreta. Those Indians who li\*e habituiilly to the north of Fort Defi- 
ance, were obliged to abandon that portion of the country and move south, 
with their flocks and herds, in quest of grazing, on account of the depth of 
snow, whicli, in the mountains, at whose base the fort is situated, was over 
two feet in depth in March, 1856." (Correspondence J. Leatherman, assist- 
ant surgeon United States Army; Smithsonian Report, 1855, page 2':<7.) 

Spealiing of the immense exposure encountered on this elevated 
plain in winter, Mr. Campbell says : 



44 

" The imagination can readily picture the terrible calamity which would 
Joevitably befall a train-load of passengers en route for the Pacific, if an acci- 
dent of a similar kind should stop their progress midway upon one of those 
desolate arlemisia districts between the (jjo de Gallo and the Little Colorado, 
and between the valley of the Big Sandy Fork and the sink of the Mohave, 
where no human habitation can erer exist between the permanent water 
stations." 

He treats of the supply of water in the same manner as the authors 
of the official reports. He notices the fact that Capt Marcy, having 
traveled over the thirty-fifth, and then over the thirty-second-parallel 
route, testified in favor of the latter as an emigrant route. Citing 
the opinion of Major Emory as to the route on the thirty-second 
parallel, he says : 

" In an allusion to the subject of the railroad, (on page .51, first volume of 
Mexican Boundary Report,) he [Major Emory] emphatically declares, of the 
advantages gained by the last, or Gadsden treaty, that it ' has secured what 
the surveys made under the orders of the War Department demonstrate to be 
the most feasible, if not the only practicable route, for a railway to the 
Pacific. ' " 

The comparison instituted in the office, when the field-work of the 
various explorations was reported, was to fulfil the requirements of 
Congress, to find the most practicable and economical route for a 
railroad from the Mississippi river to the Pacific ocean, I am not 
engaged now in the investigation of that exact question, the problem 
being merely that of crossing the Territories ; but as the practicabil- 
ity of effecting a connection between the Mississippi and Pacific may 
control in any action of Congress, a table has been preparedjyhich 
presents in a condensed form the distances and the comparative cost 
of each route from the Mississippi river to the Pacific ocean. Whe- 
ther this estimated cost be too high or too low, it is not for that pur- 
pose needful to inquire. The object was to approach as nearly as 
possible to accuracy of comparison, not to give an absolute statement 
of the cost. This is all that has ever been claimed for the office esti- 
mates of cost ; and this is the reason why the estimates of chiefs of 
parties have been modified, so as to bring them to the same compar- 
ative scale. I submit the table to the Senate : 



45 



Table shoiving the lengths, comparative costs, Src., of the several 
routes explored for a railroad from the 31iisissippi to the 
Pacific. 



Route near forty-seventh and forty-ninth 
parallels, from St, Paul to Seattle 

Route near forty-seventh and t'orty-ninth 
parallels, from St. Paul to Vancouver- • 

Route near forty-first and forty-second 
parallels, from Rock Island, via South 
Pass, to Benicia- • • •. 

Route near thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth 
parallels.from St. Louis,viaCoo-che-to- 
pa and Tah-ee-chay-pah passes, to San 
Francisco 

Route near thirty-eighth and thiity-ninth 

parallels, from St. liOuis, via Coo-clie- 

^ to-pa and Madelin Passes, to Benicia- 

Route nearthirty-fifth parallel, from Mem- 
phis to San Francisco 

Route near thirty-second parallel, from 
Memphis to San Pedro ' 

Route near thirty-second parallel, from 
Gaines' Landing to San Francisco by 
coast route 

Route near thirty-second parallel, from 
Gaines' Landing to San Pedro 

Route near thirty-second parallel, from 
Gaines' Landing to San Diego 



TS 




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1.955 


18.654 




• 


1,800 


17,645 


2,'«J9 


29,120* 


2,335 


49,9S5t 


2,535 


56,514$ 


i.mo, 


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2,090 


48,802t 


2,174 


38,aoo§ 


1,74S 


30,181 § 


1,683 


33,454 § 






5P135,S71,000 
125,781.000 



Impracticable. 

lmpractical)le, 

113,000,000 

99,000,000 

04,000,000 
72,000,000 
72,000,000 



o 5.5 









1,490 
1,490 



1,460 

1,620 
1,450 
1,400 

1,190 
1,190 
1,159 



Feet. 
6,044 
6,044 

8,373 

10,032 

10.032 
7,550 
7,.j.30 

5.717 
5,717 ♦ 
5.717 



* Tlie ascents and descents between Rock Island and Council Bluffs are not known, and 
therefore not included in this smn, 

t The ascents and descents between St. Louis and Westport are not known, and therefore 
not included in this sum. 

% The ascents and descents between Memphis and Fort Smith are not known, and therefore 
not inclndcd in this sum. 

§ The ascents and descents between Gaines" Landing and Fulton arc not known, and there- 
fore not included in this sum. 

In volume seven of the railroad reports, a tabic will be found with 
which this very generally corresponds, the difference being that some 
of the surveys having commenced at anterior points — one for instance 
at Council Bluffs, and another at Fort Smith — the estimates of the 
reports are made from those points. Here they have been extended 
to the Mississippi river. The table in volume seven is also here mod- 
ified by the supposition that the reported practicability of the Coeur 
d'Alene Pass is correct ; and thus the total sum estimated for the 
route near to the forty-ninth parallel has been reduced. No addi- 
tions have been made for those difficulties which, in addressing the 



46 

Senate, I have stated had come to my knowledge since the prepara- 
tion of my report, because information not derived from instrumental 
survey is not accepted as the basis of estimate. 

I have only to add, that looking to the grant of land and of money 
with which Texas has endowed her railroad company, and to the 
interest which would be brought to bear for the extension of the Texas 
road to the Kio Grande, by a company formed to build a road from 
the Kio Grrande to the Coloiado, I believe the sura of money and the 
grant of land contained in my substitute, although the smallest pro- 
posed by any one, will secure the construction of the road across that 
intermediate territory, will insure the extension of the road of Texas 
to the llio Grande ; and that having readied the C(jlorado, Califor- 
nia will charter a company to extend it to San Diego, to San Pedro, 
or to San Francisco. Most probably a company, if incorporated to 
build a railroad from Fort Yuma to San Francisco, would first con- 
nect with the Ocean at San Pedro, and thus command a more prompt 
return for their investment in the road than if they awaited its final 
completion to San Francisco. 

I have endeavored, during the progress of this debate, to ascer- 
tain how much of the land in the valley of the Santa Clara and the 
Salinas might inure to the benefit of a company undertaking to built 
a road. It is all known to be of the highest fertility, and blessed 
with a climate not inferior to any within the limits of the United 
States. If it is possible for the company to obtain near to that line 
even one-half of the amount of land proposed to be granted, I rely 
upon the accuracy of Lieutenant Parke's estimates to establish the 
fact that the road might be built there for the land grant alone. 
Whenever California shall charter a company to build this road with- 
in her own limits, and that company shall ask Congress for a grant 
to construct it, I cannot doubt that the interest of the United States 
will warrant Congress in making such a grant. Thus is reached the 
conclusion that the Texas road will be drawn on to make a junction 
with the road built in the Territory, and that the latter, when built 
to the Colorado, will certainly be extended to the Pacific. The east- 
ern terminus of the Texas road will be available to all the roads which 
ramify throughout the United States, and be connected, in a very 
.short time, with every important point from St. Paul to Galveston. 

If the facts which have been thus imperfectly grouped and pre- 
sented to the Senate, sustain the conclusion that this result is to be 
attained by so small a sum of money, it may reasonably be claimed 
that all who desire the construction of a a road across the Territory 
with complete connections throughout the States are bound to sus- 
tain the proposition which I have submitted. 

My position is, that the completion of this great work is necessary 
to the due execution of the functions of the general government, that 
it will not be achieved by private capital alone, therefore that we 
should strike off" every shackle which impedes its execution ; should 
abandon the right to collect duty on the iron employed ; give the 



y 



47 

■whole limit of the United States from which to select a route ; extend 
every aid we can constitutionally afford, and to insure the construc- 
tion of the road somewhere, be it where it may, so that it is on the 
soil of the United States, if by haggling over petty sectional con- 
troversies, if by sticking in the ark dand destroying the energy of the 
constitution, politicians shall defeat the efforts which have been made 
from session to session, shall prostrate the last hope for this road 
across the continent, and thus unprepared should we become involved 
in a war with the great maritime powers of Europe, they may, when 
it is too late to avert the disasters which have been so often foretold, 
have cause to pray for the mountains to fall upon and cover them 
from public indignation ; to them may attach the blame, on us all 
may press the shame and the sorrow of having lost to the country a 
territory worth innumerable treasure, of having forfeited that, the 
value of which cannot be measured by money — the prestige of sta- 
bility, progress and invincibility, and the right to inscribe on our 
national shield. Equal to the Protection op a Continenent- 
wiDE Republic. 



48 



The following letter is from the head of the well-known 
mercantile house of Juan A. Robinson, of Guaymas, Sonora, 
San Francisco, and other points. It was written during my 
vL^il; to Gai3''iaas last year. It is proper to say that the ac- 
tual export is nearer five millions than three — a large amount 
of bullion being exported yearly without going through the 
custom-house. The trade of Mazatlan is nearer twelve mil- 
lions than nine. 

Guaymas, October 12, 1858, 
Dear Sir: In reply to your inquiries regarding the trade of this port, 
I would observe, the merchandize principally consumed are from England, 
direct, and occasionally from the United Stales, including goods from the 
European continent and the East Indies. The amount cf imports may be 
calculated at ai)out three millions per annum of foreign goods, besides a con- 
siderable amount of tlie different manufactures of this Republic. Returns 
are made in gold and silver bullion. And, lastly, wheat and hides (the exports 
of the former) may be calculated at about three millions per annum, and say 
half a million of ttie other articles, including copper. Our trade is evidently 
on the increase. Regarding Mazatlan, from personal observation, I should 
judge that the business done there is about three times more than that of 
this port — their exports being in coined silver and gold, Brazil wood, and 
hides, principally. 

I remain, dear sir, in haste, your obedient servant, 

JUAN A. ROBINSON. 
Hon. Sylvester Mowrt, 

Delegate from Arizona. ~ 



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